LinkShare Blog

I am sure some of you are on Twitter and use it regularly to communicate with other in your industry.  For me, Twitter IS my RSS feed.  I check it thoroughly throughout the day and see what Facebook industry ninja’s are posting so I can read it.  As Facebook is one of my areas focus on, I also tend to find Facebook experts there so I can follow them.  Below is a list I compiled of various Facebook experts, some work for Facebook, some just rock the platform.

@Facebook – Facebook’s main Account on Twitter for Facebook

@FacebookMedia – Facebook + Media = Helping News, TV, Video, Sports, and Music partners use Facebook

@appsonfacebook – Discover updates, news, and recommendations for third party applications.

@Mike_Stelzner – Social Media Examiner Founder’s Mike Stelzner.  Basically a site I visit religiously that mentions all sorts of things Facebook. Social Media Examiner’s team has a wonderful way of creating interesting social media ‘how to’ blog posts.

Mike’s managing editor, Cindy King @CindyKing is a social media and sales strategist for international business. I just started following her, but she has a lot of great resources to read up on in regards of social media from an international perspective.

@SocialTimes – This is the Twitter handle for AllFacebook.com, a very insightful publication that names itself “The Unofficial Facebook Blog.” Here you can find great information on top Facebook Apps, Pages, and a directory of sites using Facebook Connect.

@MariSmith – Mari Smith is a social media trainer and Facebook expert, who also writes for Social Media Examiner.  Mari also wrote a book on Facebook Marketing along with Chris Treadaway, or @ctreada if you’re in the Twitterverse.

If you have any other Facebook industry leaders that you follow, please feel free to leave a comment.

Also, if you’re interested in Facebook Advertising please come and sign up as I am hosting a webinar on Wednesday, September 15^th.  The webinar is:

Facebook Ads: Social Engine Marketing – Learn 5 Tips & Tricks to get the best conversion out of your Facebook Advertising.

Hope to see you then!

Update: Thanks to @AnnieCushing for this great idea..Here’s the Twitter List of these great experts

-by Victoria Edwards, Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Specialist

Today marks a big milestone in the history of LinkShare!

This morning the beta version of the all new Advertiser Dashboard was made available to all Advertisers in the LinkShare Network. This is a major release and contains hundreds of new usability enhancements and features based on feedback from some of the smartest people working today in online marketing – our customers!

We’ve invited all Advertisers to participate in the beta to ensure we continue to receive input as we move toward the next release and as we fine tune various areas. Our goal is to reset the bar in user interface design for performance marketing!

As LinkShare Advertisers see their online sales grow we’re making major investments to help fuel that growth by implementing new enhancements and new features designed to help grow and optimize programs. There’s something new in every area – including:

• Finding and managing Publishers
• Reporting including trend charts (and lots of YOY data!)
• Managing links and offers
• Managing your account

If you’re an Advertiser in the LinkShare Network you can login today and tell us what you think!  If you’re not currently in the LinkShare Network and want a tour contact a LinkShare representative.

Current Advertisers can also  sign up today for a live Web seminar with LinkShare Product Management.

Scott Allan
Senior Director, Marketing

This morning I checked my news feed from AllFacebook.com (great resource by the way) and came across an article they wrote on Facebook Advertising. The title was Facebook Ad Revenue to Surpass $1.2 Billion This Year.  Below are some highlights from the blog post.

•  A report from eMarketer suggests that individuals will spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $1.2 billion on Facebook Advertising.

•  Facebook will receive half of the total ad spend within all social networks within the United States

•  Despite the recession, Facebook still managed to be stable during this period of time, which is why they are still acquiring companies like Chai Labs.

•  Facebook ad spend will only increase more in 2011 with a forecast ad spend of $2.09 billion

Are you utilizing Facebook’s Advertising platform to increase revenue and traffic to your site and an increase in fans to your Facebook Business page? Do you even have a Facebook page? If so, is it set up correctly?

The reason I ask is that Facebook as well as other social media networks are a great way to increase brand awareness and provide an additional way to increase conversions to your site. Some other benefits of Facebook Advertising are:

• Targeted Ads to your demographic
• Increase fans to your Facebook Page
• Increase traffic to your site
• Probably the BEST way to drive traffic to your Facebook Page

If you want to learn more about Facebook Marketing & Advertising, sign up for our webinar. I will host this Facebook Advertising webinar on Wednesday, September 15th at 1:00pm EST, titled: “Facebook Ads: Social Engine Marketing”. You will learn 5 tips and tricks to get the best conversion out of your Facebook advertising campaigns. To find out more information on what LinkShare offers as far as Social Media Marketing, please visit our site which has information on:

• Social Media Marketing
• Search Engine Optimization

-by Victoria Edwards, Search Engine Optimization and Social Media Specialist

Growth abounds for the LinkShare Network and performance marketing.

comScore reported overall e-commerce growth of just 9% YOY in Q2 of 2010.  In contrast, overall sales in the LinkShare Network during the same period were up by 30%!  And that’s same store sales not including the travel category. That probably comes as no surprise to retailers. Forrester Research, Inc. & Shop.org reported in a recent survey that Affiliate programs was listed as the second most important channel for acquiring customers in 2009 after Search engine marketing.

The South Carolina Department of Revenue has recommended the affiliate nexus tax to legislators. This is the law that was passed next door in North Carolina, which resulted in hundreds of merchants terminating their North Carolina affiliates.

Get engaged and tell your legislators that you oppose this law.   Find out more on the Performance Marketing Association (PMA) Website.

Join the Google Group.

Scott Allan
Senior Director of Marketing